IB Docs (2) Team
Writing about concepts
The following page outlines how to respond to essays that are asking you to discuss concepts or behaviours. This prompt is quite common on papers 1 or 2. It is important to have a strategy for approaching the question that is in line with the IB's assessment criteria.
The question may be asked as either "Discuss x" or "Evaluate research relevant to x".
What is the question asking?
A typical conceptual understanding question looks something like this: Discuss the formation of personal relationships. The question could also be asked Discuss research relevant to the formation of relationships.
You are assessed on the following aspects of the question:
- Is the chosen research relevant to the formation of relationships?
- Have you explained the theory on which the research is based?
- Is the research actually discussed? - That is, is there more than just an evaluation of the strengths and limitations of the studies?
Below is an explanation of how the essay should be structured. Although this is not the only possible way to structure the essay, this approach is a successful approach.
Structuring the essay
Introduction: Be sure to identify the studies that will be discussed. Define any important terms.
Paragraph 2: Explain the theoretical background of the research study or studies. Both studies may be based on the same theory - for example, the theory of natural selection. If the two studies are based on different theories, you may want to introduce both theories in this paragraph or, perhaps more logically, explain the second theory
Paragraph 3: Explain one study of the formation of relationships and link it to the theory in paragraph 2. If the command term is evaluate, you should also make note of the strengths and limitations of the study. If it is discuss, you should have some evaluation, but it is not necessary to have both strengths and limitations.
Paragraph 4: If you have another theory, then explain that here.
Paragraph 5: Explain a second study of the formation of relationships and link it to the theory in paragraph 2 or 4. If the command term is evaluate, you should also make note of the strengths and limitations of the study. If it is discuss, you should have some evaluation, but it is not necessary to have both strengths and limitations.
Paragraph 6: Your discussion paragraph should look at the bigger question of how relationships are formed. What is the difficulty in studying this question? What are the general limitations of the research? Which variables are difficult to measure? If the question is "Evaluate research" - then you should discuss both strengths and limitations of research (in general) with regard to the formation of relationships. Conclusions.
- Personally, I would recommend one theory and two studies. This allows more time for the general discussion/evaluation which is important both for critical thinking and for meeting the command term.
- When making the link to the theory, you may want to use set phrases such as: "This study shows that...", "This study supports the xxx theory because...."
- Be careful when explaining the studies not to include irrelevant details.
- When discussing research, be sure to think about the different types of validity: population, internal, ecological, construct.
- When evaluating research, always explain the evaluation. Don't just define it. For example, if you say that a study may lack construct validity, explain which variable is potentially not well measured and why this is problematic.
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